Hawaiian Volcanos Observatory Scientists Say Geothermal Drilling Won't Cause Sinking

Kilauea Volcanic Rift Zones subside whether or not they host geothermal developments

Recently, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist’s have been asked if Hawaii Island’s geothermal development causes subsidence of the ground surface, as has been observed at U.S. mainland geothermal areas, such as those in California– Coso, Geysers, the Imperial Valley, and Casa Diablo in the Mammoth Lakes area.

The largest of these mainland developments is heated by magma reservoirs that supplied eruptions through non-volcanic rock layers. The magma, thousands of years old, still heats groundwater within California’s sedimentary basins, where, fluid withdrawal during geothermal energy production can reduce pressure within the subsurface rock formations. When this happens, the ground surface subsides.

The highest subsidence rates are measured at the Geysers Geothermal Field within the Clear Lake Volcanic Field in northern California. The 78 square kilometer (30 sq mi) developed area produces 1,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity from a vapor-dominated reservoir within fractured sandstone that is capped by a zone of rock filled with geothermal minerals at the top and heated by magma below.

The Clear Lake volcanic field is one of several in California and Nevada that are monitored by HVO’s sister California Volcano Observatory (CalVO; http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/calvo/). CalVO also monitors the Long Valley caldera, in which the Casa Diablo geothermal development (40 MW) is located; the Salton Buttes volcano, which includes the Imperial Valley geothermal field (>300 MW); and the Coso Volcanic Field, where a 270 MW geothermal development is located.

As volcanic activity waxes and wanes, each of these areas exhibits its own deformation and seismicity. For example, the Long Valley caldera has experienced several episodes of heightened unrest, including earthquake swarms, ground uplift, and volcanic gas emissions during the past several decades. Thus, CalVO watches this area closely. The subsidence related to geothermal development must be documented carefully to separate the effects of volcanic activity from those due to drilling and energy production.

Council Tries to Bring Down Cost of Power

Posted on September 5th, 2012
by Dave Smith

A County Council resolution urging Hawaii Electric Light Co. to seek lower power costs from renewable energy providers — hopefully to be passed on to consumers — brought out enthusiastic supporters today.

The measure introduced by Hilo Councilman J Yoshimoto asks HELCO to renegotiate its contracts with independent power producers to “de-link” the power from avoided cost, or what it would have cost to generate the power with fossil fuels.

The concept of avoided cost was established by the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 as an incentive for development of sources of renewable energy. The federal law contained a provision that states could opt out of the program, which Hawaii did in 2006.

Currently, only 13 megawatts of the renewable-source electricity HELCO buys is not tied to avoided cost. That includes a contract recently established for an 8-megawatt expansion of Puna Geothermal Venture and a renegotiated price for 5 megawatts of the 30 megawatts already being provided by PGV.

HELCO President Jay Ignacio responds to questions about the utility’s electrical rates. Photo by Dave Smith.
HELCO has declined to reveal its specific power costs, but the company’s president, Jay Ignacio, told Big Island Now that the impact on residential power bills from the new contracts would be negligible.

According to Yoshimoto’s resolution, which passed unanimously, HELCO estimates that PGV’s 8-megawatt expansion under the lowered cost will reduce a typical residential electricity bill by $1.67 in 2015.

Earlier this year HELCO officials signed another de-linked contract, this one with Hu Honua Bioenergy to provide 21.5 megawatts to be generated by the burning of biomass at the former Hilo Coast Processing Co. sugar mill in Pepeekeo. Hu Honua isn’t expected to begin producing power until 2014 at the earliest.

During a meeting of the council’s Committee on Agriculture, Water & Energy Sustainability that ran well into the night, all of the testimony was in support of Yoshimoto’s resolution, although most of those speaking said it did not go far enough.

Kuulei Cooper of Pohoiki testified that the resolution would be “only a suggestion” and didn’t go far enough to break what she called HELCO’s “egregious monopoly.”

Wallace Ishibashi, a negotiator for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, told council members that electricity prices must come down. He said it affects workers because their employers pay so much for power.

HELCO’s residential rates, currently about 43 cents per kilowatt hour, are often the highest in the nation.

“This is too much,” Ishibashi said. “They’re not going to take it anymore.”

Mililani Trask, a principal in Indigenous Consultants, an organization seeking to develop geothermal energy sources to benefit indigenous peoples, described the previous contract between Hawaiian Electric Co. and Ormat Technologies, owner of PGV, as “price-fixing.”

Trask suggested requiring that the resolution be amended to require that HELCO report back on its efforts to renegotiate contracts.

Yoshimoto later noted that while the Public Utilities Commission approved the 8-megawatt and 5-megawatt deals, it criticized HELCO and PGV for failing to extend the de-linking to the remaining 25 megawatts.

He said the PUC seemed resigned to the result, but the public need not be, and he hoped his resolution would encourage it to speak out.

“I think change starts with the people,” he said.

Yoshimoto noted that rates are established by contracts over which the council has no power. But, he said, just because the companies can make their own deals, that “doesn’t make it right.”

Yoshimoto’s resolution notes that HELCO contracts with three other companies providing power from wind and hydroelectric facilities remain based on avoided costs.

Councilwoman Brenda Ford expressed doubt that reducing the cost of power to HELCO would translate into much in the way of lower consumer bills.

Independent producers using both renewable resources and oil currently produce about 130 megawatts to HELCO, representing a little under half of the utility’s total power capacity.

HELCO President Jay Ignacio told council members that his company doesn’t make any profit from independent power producers. He said HELCO makes profits on its investments including utility infrastructure.

Ignacio said he is agreement with the resolution and his company has already attempted to renegotiate existing contracts. He said HELCO is currently in talks with PGV at that company’s request.

“That’s good news,” Yoshimoto said. He asked if any details could be provided, but Ignacio said the process has to be confidential.

Ignacio said the existing contract with PGV for the remaining 25 megawatts expires in 2027, and existing contracts with other renewable energy producers run for either 20 or 30 years.

In addition to the roughly 40 megawatts that HELCO obtains from geothermal, wind and hydroelectric power, the utility receives about 17 megawatts in solar power, most from homes or businesses that use net metering to reduce their individual energy bills.

Ignacio said HELCO’s efforts to obtain power from producers such as Hu Honua, as well as its current plan to obtain another 50 megawatts from geothermal, is designed to reduce HELCO’s dependence on oil and its volatile pricing. Increases in the price of oil can raise electricity bills through PUC-approved surcharges.

“If we can drive that down, that will really help our customers out,” he said.

Council Chairman Dominic Yagong successfully introduced an amendment to the resolution similar to Trask’s suggestion which asked that HELCO appear before the council at its Oct. 17 meeting to report on its progress in renegotiating with PGV.

Ignacio said his company would be willing to provide the update, but would still have to maintain confidentiality.

“I’m not sure what we can share with you,” he said. He also noted that the recent 8-megawatt contract took three years to negotiate.

Any contract changes must be approved by the PUC.

HELCO recently asked the PUC to approve a 4.2% rate increase it says is needed to pay for a variety of renewable energy projects including forecasting systems for wind and computerized models to analyze the addition of more solar power into its grid.

If approved, the hike would add $8.32 to a typical 500 kilowatt-hour monthly electric bill.

Public Gets Chance to Comment on Clean Energy EIS

(Honolulu Civil Beat) The programmatic environmental impact statement being conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy and state energy office has been expanded from just Big Wind to look at a range of energy sources.

The public will have a chance to comment on the proposed PEIS at upcoming scoping meetings throughout the islands.

From the Hawaii Clean Energy Programmatic EIS website:

DOE’s proposed action is to develop guidance that it can use in making decisions about future funding decisions and other actions to support Hawai‘i in achieving the goal established in the HCEI. The Hawai‘i Clean Energy PEIS will analyze, at a programmatic level, the potential environmental impacts of clean energy activities and technologies in the following clean energy categories: (1) Energy Efficiency, (2) Distributed Renewables, (3) Utility-Scale Renewables, (4) Alternative Transportation Fuels and Modes, and (5) Electrical Transmission and Distribution.

The meetings will be held at the following locations and times:

Oahu: September 11, 5:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
McKinley High School, 1039 S. King Street, Honolulu, HI, 96814

Kauai: September 12, 5:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
War Memorial Convention Hall, 4191 Hardy St., Lihue, HI 96766

Big Island: September 13, 5:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Kealakehe High School, 74-5000 Puohulihuli St., Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

Big Island: September 14, 5:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Hilo High School, 556 Waianuenue Avenue, Hilo, HI,96720

Maui: September 17, 5:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Pomaika‘i Elementary School, 4650 South Kamehameha Avenue, Kahului

Lanai: September 18, 5:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Lanai High and Elementary School, 555 Fraser Avenue, Lāna‘i City, HI

Molokai: September 19, 5:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Mitchell Pauole Community Center, 90 Ainoa Street,Kaunakakai, HI

Oahu: September 20, 5:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
James B. Castle High School, 45-386 Kaneohe Bay Drive,Kaneohe, HI

More information is available online: http://www.hawaiicleanenergypeis.com

Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo 2012

The 2012 Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo will be held at the Hawai‘i Convention Center, August 13 - 15.

The event is the preeminent meeting place for international leaders and energy experts at the forefront of the clean energy movement. Securing energy independence and developing a clean energy industry that promotes the vitality of our planet are two reasons why it is critical to reaffirm already established partnerships and build new ones throughout the Asia-Pacific region and the world. The Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo provides a forum for the high-level global networking necessary to advance this emerging clean energy culture. Read our 2011 attendee testimonials at right.

For more info, visit: Asia Pacific Clean Energy Website

Volcano Watch: Can Geothermal Energy Development be Balanced with Volcanic Hazards in Hawaii?

(Volcano Watch is a weekly article written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.)

Puna Geothermal Venture. Hawaii 24/7 File Photo

For decades, the State of Hawaii has been trying to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Energy from Hawai`i geothermal resources is but one of several alternate energy sources that have been explored.

In Hawai`i, geothermal resources depend on volcanic heat. Magma, stored in rift zones, heats groundwater which can be tapped by drilling. It is then pumped to the surface where its heat is extracted to drive electrical generators.

It makes sense that the most attractive geothermal target in the State of Hawaii is also the most active volcano—Kilauea. The nearly continuous supply of magma to Kilauea pumps heat into the geothermal resource, but it also fuels eruptions that could threaten structures on the volcano.

To make clear where future lava flows are most likely, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) scientists published Lava-Flow Hazard Zone Maps as early as 1974, designating the summits and rift zones of Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes as the most hazardous. For Kilauea, the summit and rift zones of the volcano also have the highest geothermal potential, so the Lava-Flow Hazard Map closely resembles the geothermal resource map.

Geothermal resources definitely exist on Kilauea, as established by the HGP-A pilot project in the 1970s. The Puna Geothermal Venture commercial power facility has produced 30 Megawatts (MW) from Kilauea’s heat, 20 percent of the annual electrical usage of the Island of Hawai`i, since 1993.

The most recent study in 2005 suggests that the potential of the Kilauea resource, excluding areas within national parks and state reserves, could be between 250 and 600 MW. Development of geothermal resources may also be possible on volcanoes with less frequent eruptions than Kilauea, such as Hualalai, Haleakala, or Mauna Kea.

If a resource of this size exists and is fully developed, the power generated from it would far exceed the need for electricity on the Island of Hawai`i. Therefore, the State of Hawaii is proposing the use of an undersea cable to link the islands between Hawai`i, the potential major energy producer, and O`ahu, the major energy consumer.

But what about the risk posed by volcanic eruptions? In a 1994 USGS publication (pubs.usgs.gov/of/1994/0553/rep…, HVO scientists estimated a high probability of eruptions from Kilauea’s lower east rift zone within any 50-year period. The publication also found a significant likelihood of lava inundation along the cable pathways linking the proposed Kilauea geothermal developments to the Honolulu energy grid, because the cable would have to pass across the northeast flank of Mauna Loa, Hawai`i’s other very active volcano.

These threats are real. In the last 200 years, eruptions have occurred three times in the lower east rift zone of Kilauea and six times on the northeast flank of Mauna Loa. The possibility of an eruption in the geothermal resource or state-wide cable path within any 50-year period is between 60 and 90 percent.

The effect of an eruption within a geothermal power development could be severe, and the site could be deeply buried by lava.

The power generated by the geothermal facility would be lost—possibly for weeks, months, or even years. The 1840, 1955, and 1960 eruptions in lower Puna continued for weeks to months. Power generation and transmission could not resume until after the eruption ceased, and it was safe to re-enter the area and re-establish the facilities and the cables carrying electricity away from the site.

With enough lead time before the eruption, however, much of the power-generation equipment might be moved offsite and saved for future use.

The effects of an eruption would be more profound as the geothermal power development increased in size. If a 500-MW power generation facility were developed within the lower east rift zone of Kilauea and power exported to O`ahu and Maui, a volcanic disruption would have state-wide effects.

As a community, we should explore all options in our quest for inexpensive, reliable electricity. There are down sides to the utilization of any energy source, and we must balance the negatives with the positives when making choices. This includes balancing the considerable benefits of geothermal resource development with the inherent volcanic risk of such development on active volcanoes.

The State of Renewable Energy Industries

Like a proud college graduate, Iowa’s youthful renewable energy industry has set out into the real world just in time to learn how tough the energy business can be.

Ethanol

Ethanol voluntarily gave up its 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit at the end of 2011. Since then, the industry has flipped from solid profitability to red ink. The price of ethanol has plunged by 30 percent in the last six months.

Even the 50-cent-per-gallon drop in gasoline prices since March contains a hint of bad news for ethanol, since the lower price in part reflects a 6 percent drop in gasoline demand since 2007. Less gasoline sold means less ethanol blended.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel, once thought to be the salvation of Iowa’s soybean growers, struggled through a difficult 2010, when most of Iowa’s 13 plants closed after biodiesel lost its $1-per-gallon tax credit.

The credit was restored last year, and biodiesel seemingly recovered, but the credit expires at the end of this year. Biodiesel interests are pleading with Congress, so far without success, to restore the credit.

A measure of the financial markets’ doubts about biodiesel lies in the stock performance of Renewable Energy Group of Ames, which owns or operates biodiesel plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, Texas and Louisiana. REG went public at $10 per share in the first week of January, but the stock has settled below $6.50 per share this month.

Wind

Wind energy faces big head winds: In the marketplace, cheap natural gas is tempting utilities to turn to gas rather than wind as they scramble to replace coal-burning generators to meet clean air standards.

The price of natural gas, which unlike crude oil is purely a domestic market not shaken by world geopolitical forces, has fallen from $10 per thousand cubic feet in 2009 to a 10-year low barely above $2 per thousand cubic feet this month.

“Natural gas priced anywhere below $4 per thousand cubic feet makes wind uncompetitive,” said John Bear, chief executive officer of Midwest Independent System Operators, which runs the electricity grid stretching from Ohio through Iowa to Manitoba.

The natural gas bounty has emboldened opponents of the renewal of the 2.2-cent-per-kilowatt-hour production tax credit for wind projects.

Warren Buffett-backed MidAmerican Energy is completing a multibillion-dollar wind investment in Iowa. Wind interests warn that future projects not blessed with Buffett’s bountiful checkbook will have difficulty finding financing without the tax credit. That will endanger the jobs of more than 4,000 workers and support personnel at Iowa’s wind manufacturing plants.

Natural gas enjoys two distinct advantages over wind. It already has a pipeline system in place, and it can be stored. Wind is famously intermittent, and its power can’t be stored in tanks or underground caverns.

“Natural gas has become a very tough competitor for wind,” concedes Denise Bode, president of the American Wind Energy Association.

Crude Oil

Petroleum, which seemed so 20th-century old-school back in the heady days when Congress passed the Renewable Fuel Standard in 2007, has staged a comeback that threatens renewable energy sources just as they seemed ready to emerge as full-fledged players.

For the first time since the early 1970s, U.S. crude oil production is increasing thanks largely to the new Bakken Field in North Dakota and the reopening of old fields in the U.S. Southwest.

That new oil, plus more oil coming from Alberta in Canada, has reduced U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil and enabled oil interests to argue that U.S. energy security no longer depends on home-brew biofuels as it appeared a half-decade ago.

Rick Brehm of Lincolnway Energy hears the excited chatter over the surge in domestic oil coming from the Bakken Field. But he asks, “Has all that new oil from North Dakota lowered the price of gasoline very much?”

World's Top 10 Generators of Clean Energy

With Rio 20+, the latest United Nations organized Earth Summit, less than a week away, the Natural Resources Defense Council has released a scorecard ranking the G20 nations and their commitment to clean energy development.

It comes as no surprise that G20 countries lead the world in renewable energy investment.  Since 2004, investment in clean energy from G20 countries has grown by nearly 600%, while electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, and wave power has tripled. 

Nevertheless, the NRDC says an even greater commitment to clean energy is required, given that clean energy currently only accounts for 2.6% of the G20's electricity production.  This number is expected to increase to 6% by 2020 -- which is not nearly enough to meet the demands of climate scientists.  The NRDC recommends G20 nations seize the opportunity of Rio 20+ to enhance their commitment to clean energy.

Here is a list of the G20's top 10 producers of clean energy in 2011 -- in terms of total percentage of renewable energy in the nation's electricity generation mix.

1.    Germany -- 10.7%

2.    European Union (as a whole) -- 6.7%

3.    Italy -- 6.2%

4.    Indonesia -- 5.7%

5.    United Kingdom -- 4.2%

6.    France -- 2.8%

7.    United States -- 2.7%

8.    Mexico -- 2.6%

9.    India -- 2.4%

10.  Australia -- 2.0%

By Nathanael Barker - June 15, 2012

Energy Boom

Cheap Natural Gas Won’t Kill Renewable Energy Growth (3 Reasons Why) (via Clean Technica)

I’ll be the first to admit that cheap natural gas prices are one of the biggest short-term threats to deployment of renewable energy in the U.S. today. With a glut of gas dropping prices to historic lows, the competitiveness of technologies like wind, solar PV, and solar hot water are facing significant…

Oahu-Centric Energy Plans Disregard Neighbor Islands

By Cynthia Oi

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser

We are one state, the governor says, which is true, but out of true.

We are one state made up of islands connected under a government, but separated by vast stretches of ocean. That separation throws the truth of oneness off kilter, since it engenders divergent ways of living and somewhat conflicting aspirations and goals.

We are one state, but what Honolulu wants, what residents, business concerns, interest groups and political leaders on Oahu desire, isn’t quite what residents, businesses, interest groups and communities on Kauai, Lanai, Maui, Molokai or Hawaii island want.

Not all is different. Local residents — newbies and kamaainas, rural and urban — seek a good place to live, a clean environment, enough money and decent employment to make ends meet, and energy at reasonable cost.

Few will get the last, unless they become individually energy self-sufficient for the long term and remain disconnected to the power and power-production grid.

The governor, state Legislature, power producers and their allies have initiated a plan for a statewide energy system, establishing a regulatory framework for an undersea electricity transmission cable.

The measure is the starting point for hitching Oahu with its huge and growing appetite for electricity to what’s often referred to belittlingly as the outer or outlying islands, where renewable energy plants will have more space to breed.

The notion is the connectivity will benefit the neighbor islands, providing jobs, industry and more revenue ostensibly in local control. Oahu, crowded and getting more land poor with each suburban development given government blessing, will get to use the wind-, sun- and volcano-generated electricity.

The link will bring energy-cost equality, cable advocates say. All across Hawaii, electricity customers will pay one rate. It probably won’t be cheaper because the companies that control the grid will get to pass along the cost of the cable, now guesstimated at $1 billion, and renewable energy infrastructure and production will be expensive. Oneness in a sprawling power grid may not be a wise move anyway, subject to disasters natural and human-precipitated.

Hawaii’s goal to move away from fossil-fueled power is necessary. No one would argue with that. But the idea that the cable is essential to that intent, as the governor says, is premature in this early stage of renewable energy development.

Each island’s needs, potentials and conservation efforts should be assessed first, followed by a look at what resources can be reasonably tapped with least disruption to land, ocean, air and people. What will be acceptable should be evaluated based on the island’s community, not on what another needful, bustling region craves. Energy production and transmission that disturb and damage the character and atmosphere of an island is not sustainable.

Cable advocates argue that because Oahu, with the biggest revenue streams, subsidizes their highways, parks, social services and schools, the neighbor islands should be willing to shoulder the energy production burden.

It is an argument that goes against the theme of oneness. It reinforces neighbor islanders’ perception that the ocean that buffers them from the afflictions of brawny, overbearing Oahu should not be bridged.

Environmental Exemptions for Geothermal Energy near final Approval

KITV-TV - May 4, 2012

Unlike wind or solar, geothermal energy located deep below the earth's surface is always on.

But companies will often shy away from exploring new geothermal sites in Hawaii because of the state's strict environmental regulations, which cost both time and money.

On Thursday, a subcommittee of the state Environmental Council heard from potential geothermal developers about why the State Land Department should be allowed to waive certain environmental regulations.

"The cost and timelines of the current rules make it restrictive to explore in this state," said Bill Sherman, land manager for Ormat Technolgies, a Nevada based company that owns the 30 megawatt geothermal plant in Puna on the Big Island.

After hearing testimony, the seven member subcommittee approved three environmental exemptions for geothermal exploration. They include non-invasive testing and analysis, the issuance of leases on state or reserved lands, and the drilling of exploration wells.

If approved by the full 15-member Environmental Council May 17, the exemptions would allow the State Land Department to drop costly environmental assessments from geothermal exploration projects.

"This simply gives us the opportunity to point out an exemption for the environmental processes," said State Land Director William Aila. "There's still all of the other state, federal and county processes that have to be complied with."

The 30-megawattt Puna Geothermal Venture plant already produces 20 percent of the Big Island's energy needs. Allowing exploration wells to be dug more quickly and cheaply could lead to the construction of more plants.

Ormat is exploring the construction of a 50-megawatt geothermal plant on Ulupalakua Ranch in southern Maui. Meanwhile, Hawaii Electric Light Company opened a docket with the Public Utilities Commission May 1, asking for proposals to build a new 50-megawatt geothermal plant on the Big Island.

In his State of the State speech in January, Gov. Neil Abercrombie lobbied for more renewable energy output and mentioned the Big Island by name.

"That's really in response to the demand that's coming from the community on Hawaii Island," said Aila. "They're paying some of the highest prices for electricity in the state."

However, opposition to the geothermal industry on the Big Island continues to grow louder, where critics blame a variety of health problems on the Ormat plant in Puna.

Gary Hooser, an ex-officio member of the Environmental Council and director of the Office of Environmental Quality Control, believes geothermal technology doesn't harm human health, even though he voted against the exemption for exploratory wells.

"I think if done properly, like most things, geothermal can be perfectly safe," said Hooser. "We need to explore all these alternatives to renewable energy."

Longtime native Hawaiian activist Mililani Trask is currently representing Innovations Development Group, Inc., a company which hopes to dig geothermal exploration wells on the Big Island.

Although members of The Pele Defense Fund have begun speaking out against the interference geothermal plants could pose to native Hawaiian Pele practitioners, Trask says those concerns are overblown. She points to a 1995 decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court that affirmed access rights of native Hawaiians.

"Since that time and until the very present moment, there hasn't been a single case of a single Hawaiian prevented from worshiping tutu Pele because of a geothermal plant in Puna," said Trask. "It just hasn't happened. It's a non-issue."